


Of Beards and Vallaslin

by Butlercream



Category: Dragon Age: Inquisition
Genre: F/M, Fluff, inquisitive lavellan, tiny little oneshot, wondering how humans work
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-09-09
Updated: 2016-09-09
Packaged: 2018-08-14 01:18:44
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,390
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7993330
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Butlercream/pseuds/Butlercream
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Elves don't grow beards, so Sphaera is curious. Naturally the only thing to do is interrogate Cullen about his own facial hair.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Of Beards and Vallaslin

                The first time he kissed her she hadn’t expected it. Of course, she knew it was _there_ , she had a pair of working eyes. She had expected it to be soft, like the nose or ears of a halla. Instead, when his mouth found hers she found his beard scratchy and coarse.

                Of course she said nothing about it. In fact, she didn’t really mind it all that much, as long as she was kissing him. It remained at the forefront of her thoughts, though. She had seen beards in passing. Her clan allowed trade with many travelling dwarven and human merchants, and so she knew beards existed long before the conclave. She had never really had a resource to explain to her the details, though.

                One evening she found herself leaning on the ladder leading up to his bed, examining him while he finished up a bit more work so they could finally spend some time together before she went out on another mission. She stood quietly and patiently, examining his chin. The hairs were more similar in colour to his eyebrows, slightly darker than the hair on top of his head. They also tapered off at the neck, instead of cutting off at the chin.

                “Hold on. I only have this one report left.” Cullen apologised, only glancing up from his work. He had already apologised three times before for making her wait. Each time she gave him the same response:

                “It’s fine. Take your time. I don’t mind.”

                “So you’ve said…” Cullen said, scribbling something on the paper before setting it aside and standing, observing her. “But your stare is rather off-putting.”

                “Oh! No, I wasn’t…” A wave of heat hit Sphaera’s face and ears, lighting them up a bright red. She looked away to hide it. “I didn’t mean to seem impatient. I was just…being foolish I suppose.”

                “Is there something wrong?” Cullen asked carefully, fear creeping into his eyes through his face remained rather stoic about it. He came around to the front of his desk to greet her.

                “No, nothing is wrong, I promise.” Sphaera said. “I just…” she winced. “I want to ask you a question, and I’m not sure if it’s rude to ask or not.”

                “Is this about my being a Templar?” Cullen asked warily.

                “No,” Sphaera said, fiddling with her hands and wandering towards him shyly. “It’s more of a human thing.” Cullen’s face eased into a much calmer and open expression.

                “Go on.” Cullen said, with a small gesture with his hand, folding his arms in a gesture she learned meant he was listening.

                “Well, you see…Elves can’t grow beards, as you may know and I suppose I was just wondering how it works?” She winced slightly at her question, certain he was going to take offense to it. Instead his lip twitched upward slightly and his eyes gleamed in amusement he was clearly trying not to show, most likely so as not to embarrass her, though it was much too late for that.

                “How it…works?” Cullen repeated in amused confusion. “Could you specify?”

                “Yes.” Sphaera said. “Well, I have quite a few questions about it, actually.” Cullen gave her a wave of the hand that seemed to indicate for her to ask away. “Firstly, Blackwall has a bigger beard than you, no offense—“

                “—None taken.” Cullen said automatically and Sphaera gained a bit more courage.

                “ --and Dorian only has the top of his lip covered. I suppose what I’m asking is if they all grow differently like that, or if you style it like normal hair or…how does that work, exactly?” Cullen let out a chuckle in spite of himself. Sphaera felt her blush deepen.

                “It’s a mixture of both. Some people grow better, rather more even, beards than others. But you can also style it. I keep mine trimmed down to stubble, for example, Dorian shaves off everything but the moustache.” Cullen explained patiently. Sphaera nodded her understanding, her brow furrowing as she wrapped her mind around the new information.

                “Can all humans grow beards then? Even though some may be better?” she asked.

                “Er, no.” Cullen said. “It’s mostly on men. Once we reach a certain age it starts to grow in, usually.” Sphaera’s face smoothed. That made sense, at least. That was why she didn’t see fantastic beards on Leliana or Cassandra.

                “So are they like Vallaslin, then? Do they mean something?” Sphaera asked.

                “Valla…?” Cullen tilted his head to the side.

                “Oh! My tattoos on my face. They represent one of the beings I worship. I had to learn about my culture and heritage first, then I got to choose my vallaslin by studying Falon’din. Then there was the ritual when I came of the right age…”

                “No, it’s nothing like that.” Cullen said, shaking his head. “They just grow in. They do represent adulthood, in a way, but there are no ceremonies or anything like that. Mostly just boys proudly showing them off and comparing.”

                “I see. So like breasts with girls?” Sphaera asked genuinely. Cullen turned a nice shade of red and rubbed the back of his neck.

                “Er…Yes, I suppose like that a bit.” He adjusted his lean on his desk awkwardly. Sphaera realised she must have crossed some sort of line and retreated from that vein of questioning.

                “It doesn’t cover your lips. Does it do that naturally, or do you have to shave it?”

                “No, generally it grows in like this.” Cullen said, gesturing to his own face awkwardly. Sphaera paused, eyeing Cullen carefully, wondering if she should ask her next question.

                “May I touch it?” she asked softly. Cullen blinked at her in surprise for a couple moments before a grin split across his face.

                “Of course.” He said, pushing off his desk and taking the two steps towards her. He bent down so she could reach him. Slowly, Sphaera reached up and felt Cullen’s stubble. It was softer this time. She realised when she rubbed it one way it was softer than when she rubbed against it.

                “It doesn’t hurt when I do this, does it?” Sphaera asked in concern. Cullen let out a sharp laugh.

                “Not at all.”

                “I’m sorry for the interrogation. Just when you kissed me it was much rougher than I expected it to be.” She said, still running her fingers over his beard in fascination.

                “I can grow it out. That would help.” Cullen suggested.

                “I like it how it is. I would hate to start coughing up hairballs.” Sphaera said. Cullen chuckled softly. Sphaera’s eyes focused on his scar for a moment. She suddenly realised she had been stroking Cullen’s face for a couple minutes and it was probably very awkward. Her eyes flickered up to his in embarrassment and panic. He was watching her with amusement, and something else she wasn’t sure how to place.

                Cullen leaned in slightly so their noses were touching. His hands found her waist. He hesitated for a moment, staring into her eyes with that look she hadn’t seen before, at least not towards her. He was giving her a chance to pull away, to back out if she wanted to, but she didn’t want to. She leaned in and connected their lips, and the feeling of his stubble once more made her realise in a sudden epiphany what the look was: Adoration.

                She felt her heart swell and emotions fill her so full she thought she was going to burst with them. Someone loved her. Someone could love her.

                Her fingers trailed from Cullen’s beard to the fur in his cape. Another question popped into her mind at the feel of it. She pulled away, looking at it with wide eyes as a thought that had never crossed her mind ran through it.

                “Does it grow anywhere else? Like Varric?” she asked, looking up at him with earnest question. Cullen let out a nervous chuckle and his cheeks exploded into red.

                “I think that is maybe a question for another time.” He mumbled.

                “Oh. Right. I apologise.” Sphaera said, shaking herself out of her child-like wonder. Cullen leaned down and kissed her forehead.

                “Though I would appreciate if you explained these vallaslin to me.” He said. Sphaera smiled, a blush creeping on her cheeks.

                “I would be happy to.”


End file.
